All On the Line
by Ice Cube1
Summary: A man unwilling to fight for what he wants, deserves what he gets. Killian is about to find out just how willing he is to fight for Emma's soul.


**Title: All on the Line**

 **Author: Ice Cube**

 **Rating: T for angst.**

 **Spoilers: Yes. Everything up to 5x05, maybe. Nothing specific, though**

 **Disclaimer: Right, if I owned them anywhere outside of my dreams, the characters that are forthwith mentioned in this story would be making me a lot of money and very happy…so no, they aren't mine, and I'm still trying to get out from under student loans, so if you're going to sue, feel free, you won't get anything.**

 **Characters: Killian, Emma…Belle, Rumple, and Merida are technically there as well**

 **Archives: Feel free; just please let me know where so I can find it again.**

 **Summary: A man unwilling to fight for what he wants, deserves what he gets. Killian is about to find out just how willing he is to fight for Emma's soul.**

 **Warnings: To those who think that I am capable of writing a fic that is torture free…I can't, and thus, if you don't want to see h/c, various emotional and/or physical torture, and other forms of angst, find another story.**

 **I don't always have my stories beta'd, I'm too impatient to wait for someone to proof it after I've written it, so I apologize for any mistakes, and if you email me to tell me that they're there, I'll fix them later.**

 **Reviews are always a plus; it's great to know that people are reading my stories and that they evoke some strong reactions. Constructive criticism will be taken under advisement. Flames, however, will be treated with the utmost respect they deserve…they will be used as fodder for jokes for years to come.**

 **That said, on with the tale…**

* * *

 _In the end_ , he thought, _it was all turning out to be poetically ironic_.

* * *

Liam's death had shattered Killian in ways that he was still trying to repair to this day. He had turned his nose at the thought of heroism if it caused as much pain as his older brother's passing, and he tried as hard as he could to become the very thing he hated. It was easier for his crew – they followed his lead and he was very good at pretending. To the world he became the villainous pirate Captain Jones, pillaging and plundering to his crew's content, searching for a way to join his brother and still maintain the yoke of good form that Liam's voice in his head demanded. Actively seeking his own end would have disappointed his brother, but if it were unavoidable, well then there wasn't much he could do about that. He had willingly stumbled down the path of debauchery and piracy with a reckless abandon that inevitably led him to Milah. She was a vision with her own carefully hidden pain that sang to his own – he had been helpless from the beginning. When she asked him to take her away from her life, he saw a chance to focus on something other than Liam for once and it was like waking from the darkness.

Her husband had come for her, of course. Trying to be brave and facing down the man who would steal his wife from him was clearly too much, and the pain Hook was causing him – and inevitably the small son he had seen once in a tavern – was too much for his heart to bear, and rather than do the right thing, he had stood on the deck of his ship and taunted the little mouse of a man who had come begging for his wife to be released. He saw the pain he wanted the world to feel in that coward's eyes and reveled in it.

It was the first day he truly became a villain.

~~~~~~~~OUaT~~~~~~~~

Now, standing in the house that Emma had created, trying to save what was left of her – of them – Hook couldn't help remembering that day in startling clarity. Once again, the woman that the Croco…no, Rumpelstiltskin…loved with all of his heart was being used as bait. Emma stood gloriously in all her black leather, gleefully taunting the cowardly man he had reverted into to just save his wife. She held a heart in her hand, smirking at the fiery red-haired lass who had that heartless look Hook knew all too well. Merida's arrow trembled just slightly as she pointed it at Belle's heart. The librarian was frozen in place next to the bloody sword Emma had been hiding from them all. All Rumpelstiltskin had to do was pull the sword from the stone and Belle could go free. He just had to be brave, apparently. Devastation blanketed the room as Rumpelstiltskin begged and begged Emma to let Belle go. Watching the despair roll off of the man he had ruined that day centuries ago, and who had in turn ruined him, was doing so many things to Hook's emotions that for a moment he was as immobile as the magically frozen Belle.

But it was Emma's giggle that unfroze him just as quickly.

He'd be damned if he was going to lose her to this. When Emma had killed Cruella, it had almost broken her. If the Dark One killed Belle, nothing Hook would do could ever bring her back, not really.

"Emma, please love. Look at me, think about what you're doing." His voice was pitched as softly as he could manage, praying that the quiver in his vocal cords would call to _her_ rather than thrill the Dark One.

Her eyes wavered from Merida, and in his periphery, Hook saw the arrowhead drop the smallest amount. He prayed to every god he could think of that Rumpelstiltskin wouldn't take this moment to find his bravery and ruin everything.

The glint in Emma's…in the Dark One's…eyes shone just a bit brighter as she stared unabashedly – hungrily – at his chest. "I am thinking about what I'm doing. I need the sword, and Rumple here is going to get it for me. Now, if you'll excuse me a moment, I'm a bit busy."

She turned back to her playthings and frowned at the arrow pointing towards the ground. One squeeze of Merida's heart brought them right back to where they'd been moments ago. Hook's own heart clenched in sympathy. He knew how much that hurt.

"I'm losing my patience, Rumple. It's very simple, you see. You walk up to the sword, and you pull it from the stone. You give it to me, and I give you Belle. It seems like a simple enough deal to me. And we all know how much you like your deals, don't we?" The high-pitched laugh hurt Hook's ears and sent his blood pressure that much higher.

"P-please, please I can't do what you want. Please just, just let me take B-belle out of here. I'll help you, I-I will. I'll find a way to get you the sword. Belle and I both, we'll figure out a way. But I need her. I can't, I can't do it without her." His voice trembled just as it did the first time he'd come begging for Milah, and in the end, it was all turning out to be poetically ironic.

"Please. Please, Miss Swan. You, you have my wife. You, you see, I-I need her. I-I'm begging you, please let her go." The words were eerily familiar, almost an exact mirror to that day, and it was putting Hook on edge.

And then Emma spoke, and it was if she were channeling him. He wondered if the voice in her head was doing it on purpose.

"I'm not much for bartering, that was more your thing. That said, I do consider myself the Savior, so if you truly want your wife back…" she paused and nodded to Excalibur.

"All you have to do is take the sword. Go on. Pull it out." She smirked in Hook's direction and his heart plummeted to his feet. He could tell she was just toying with them both now.

"A man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he gets."

And just like that, Killian knew what he had to do. This wasn't about Belle anymore. Not to him, not really. Whether or not Rumpelstiltskin had learned anything from being the Dark One himself, whether or not he could find the courage that he had never really had, it didn't matter. What mattered was what had always mattered to Killian since the day he turned his ship around and came back to a doomed town, and since the day he had given up his ship to find a way to New York, and since the day he had let himself get dragged into a time portal – what mattered was that he needed to save _her_. Save the Emma that he knew was trapped inside and screaming to get out.

He'd do anything it took to fight for her. To win for her.

Even if it meant disappointing his brother.

* * *

Without giving himself a second to remember how much it had hurt when the Crocodile had done this, Killian plunged his hook into his chest until he felt the magic tugging at his heart and he pulled back just as swiftly. The scream that ripped from his throat was enough to draw Emma's attention away from Belle and Rumpelstiltskin, but Killian just barely noticed as he focused on staying on his feet. Carefully tipping the pulsing heart from the cradle of his hook to the palm of his hand, Killian straightened his back and swallowed down the bile that threatened to choke him.

The look in Emma's eyes gave him the barest amount of hope, but it was hope enough to strengthen him again.

"What are you doing?" Emma took a step towards him and her voice was shrill. He knew what the sight of his heart outside of his body had done to her the last time, and he was praying it would do so again. "Hook, what are you doing with that?"

Her hand shook as she reached out to him before she glanced over her shoulder to the demon only she could see and the frightened look was gone. She turned back to Rumpelstiltskin and waved Merida's heart in front of him. "I'm getting bored, Rumple. Don't make me…"

"Emma." Killian interrupted her and held up his own heart, shaking it a little to draw her attention back to him. Even that little movement nearly took his breath away and he couldn't think about what he was going to do next.

"Emma, love, I need you to listen to me for a moment. They aren't going anywhere, are they?"

She tilted her head to side eye him before smirking and shrugging. "I've never really gotten into this whole deals thing like he did, but I'm pretty sure you can't bargain with something that's already mine."

At any other time, her declaration would have astonished him. Her simple acknowledgment of owning his heart wasn't something he had ever thought she'd own up to – even this new, unfettered version of her – but now wasn't the time.

And that wasn't what his plan was, anyway.

"I learned my lesson, love. Never make a deal with the Dark One. The Dark One lies, the Dark One plays tricks. No, Emma, no deals today." He held up his heart so that it cut off their vision from one another. All he could see was the soft, red light that emanated and reflected around the room.

He knew it was all she could see now, as well. He could hear it in her voice when the soft tones that he associated with _before_ came out, and the first tendrils of panic edged around her question.

"Then what are you doing with that?"

He smiled, confident that he finally had her full attention. Lowering the heart to where he could cradle it against his stomach, Killian began to fight for her with everything he had. If this didn't work…well, if it didn't work, it wouldn't really matter anymore, anyway.

"You're right, Emma. This heart, it does belong to you. It has since the day you told me that we understood each other. Since the day that you asked me to join you and be a part of something. I didn't know it then, I didn't really even know it when I turned my ship around and came back to you. You made me remember that I could care about someone other than myself, which was something that I hadn't let myself believe since the day my brother died.

"This heart was much like that bean Anton kept – the one that eventually got you home to Henry. It was dried up, dead, useless. It's not now. You can see for yourself, it's magical and full of hope. You did that. You made me see that the path I was on didn't lead to avenging Milah, and it certainly wouldn't erase the pain of losing Liam. Killing him would have shriveled this heart up even further and there would have been no coming back from that. I know that, now.

"When I wasn't looking, you stole this from me, my love. I told you that you'd make a hell of a pirate – I never even knew you'd taken it until it was too late. You pilfered it and then you nurtured it and you allowed it to flourish once more. _You_ did that, and I love you all the more for it.

"So look at what it's become, Emma. Yes, there is still darkness there. Yes, it would be very easy to let that take over, to join you in whatever you're doing and pretend that filled with darkness as it would be, it would still be capable of loving you. But I won't do that. Because to do that would dishonor everything that you have done to bring the light back to me. And I would never dishonor you.

"You're the Savior, lass, and you had given me my happy ending. But it's as I told you, I was a villain, and we don't get our happy endings, do we? So the darkness stole you right out from under my fingers and despite how hard we fought, we didn't win. I failed. So we're standing here now and you're about to do something that you'll never let yourself heal from. When you are saved and the darkness is out of you once more, if you do this, if you have Merida shoot that arrow, even if you win, you'll lose.

"And if you lose, then so do I."

* * *

Emma took two steps towards him, still clutching Merida's heart and effectively freezing everyone in place.

"I have to do this, don't you see? I have to have the sword and this is the only way. I tried to make him brave, but you're right, he's just a coward. I needed to do something big so that he could move past that. He can't be a hero if it's easy. If I can get the sword, then we can win."

Killian took a step back before she could invade his space. If she got too close, he'd follow her anywhere. And then everyone would lose.

"You're right again, love. You can't be a hero if you take the easy path. That sword _is_ the easy path. Following your lead would be the easy path. If I'm ever going to get my happy ending, then I have to deserve it. _I_ have to be a hero. _I_ need to do whatever it takes to save you. I need to _fight for what I want._ What I want is you, Emma. And I will save you, my love. I _will._ "

"You can't." Emma shook her head. "I made this choice, Hook, and I have to follow through with it. You don't have to watch, but once I have the sword, then we can be together."

"No, Emma, we can't." Killian stepped back again, recoiling from the darkness that he could feel surrounding her like a wet blanket. He put as much space between them as he could.

"If you do this, Emma, then it's the end of you. And I can't lose you. Not you, too. I'd rather not be here than see what's going to become of you if you kill her. I've lived a long life alone, but now that I've had you, I can't go back to that."

Emma smirked and turned back to Belle. "Then what are you going to do? Are you going to get on the _Jolly Roger_ and sail away from here? Sail until you find some deserted island somewhere and waste away remembering what we could have been? You won't last a week before you're back at my side. Just put your heart back in your chest before you drop it and help me. We can end all of this. I just need the sword and then we can have everything we've ever dreamed of."

"No, Emma." The quiet statement drew the eyes of everyone in the room, including hers. She looked confused for a moment, and he could see the fear coiling at the corners of her eyes. His Emma was smart enough to know that he had something of a plan, and it wasn't going her way.

"No?"

"No. I won't sail away. You're not hearing me, love. I can't go back to a life without you. Not when this heart belongs solely to you. But the Dark One has already taken so much from me. It took my first love and my hand. It almost took my soul. I won't let the Dark One have my heart, too. If you're going to do this, if you're going to lose yourself to this completely, then I don't want to be around to see it happen. If you do this, if you don't let them go now, then you'll be crushing my heart yourself. And since I know that someday you'll be you again, I won't let you suffer with that. So I'll take this heart and I will crush it to dust myself. I won't survive without you, Emma. I don't even want to."

Killian could hear her breath stutter in her chest. He could see the way she began to tremble. He hoped it would be enough.

"You're bluffing. You're a survivor, you won't…"

Killian hit his knees as the agony erupted through him when he clenched his fist around his heart. Slowly he let his hand relax and took a shuddering breath. "There is no surviving without you."

"Stop it. Put it back, Hook." The tears that were collecting in her eyes gave him hope, but it still wasn't enough.

"Not until you let them all go. Please, Emma, we'll find a way. Just let them go." His own eyes were watering as he waited for her decision.

When Emma shook her head and looked over his shoulder, the first bolts of real fear struck him. The demon in her head was winning. Killian couldn't let it. He would have to do this, he wasn't strong enough to watch her jump off the precipice into the darkness and he would take the coward's way out, selfishly leaving her behind to save himself from the torment. He would go through with this if he had to, but he knew it would break her.

Killian knew the moment he lost her when she took a step back towards the sword and raised Merida's heart again. Not able to watch her end Belle's life and her own soul, he dropped his head to stare at his own softly glowing heart. It was her gift to him, and he would have treasured it forever if only he could have saved her from this. His back bowed under the strain of knowing that he had lost her, and what was left of his shattered soul broke into tinier fragments as he let out a shuddering breath. The tears that dripped down his face dropped onto his heart and he began to squeeze. "I'm so sorry."

The pain was immense, stealing almost of his strength and pitching his body forward to land on his outstretched hook, a last ditch effort to keep himself upright. It was fitting that the last thing he would see would be the symbol of his villainy. His eyes closed as the scream of agony tore from his throat and he tried to pour the last of his strength into squeezing harder and ending the torment more quickly.

* * *

Faster than it began, he found himself in a blissful state of unfeeling. The absence of pain was so startling that he was unaware of anything else for what felt like an eternity. If this was what the end was like, then it was more than he deserved for leaving Emma behind like he did.

And then he heard it.

"Mine." Emma's whisper was sharp, angry, and possessive.

And then he felt it.

Her fingers carding through his hair and her thigh soft underneath his head where he had fallen.

And then he saw it.

His heart was no longer in his hand, but rather it was cradled against her chest as if it were the most precious thing she owned. And own it she did.

Emma looked down at him and locked her gaze with his.

"Mine," she said again, softly this time, smiling slightly as she traced the scar on his cheek. She brought his heart up to her lips and kissed it gently before lowering it to his chest and sliding it back into place.

For the moment, there was only Killian and Emma, nothing else mattered in the world.

And when he finally gathered the courage to break her gaze and look around the room, Belle was locked firmly in Rumpelstiltskin's arms, and she was clutching Merida's heart in her hands. Emma waved her hand a second later, and the two of them were truly alone once more.

"Yours, my love. Always yours."


End file.
